Category Archives: Language

A national strategic language for China

An opinion piece from the Global Times (环球时报) argues for the importance of naming China’s national language correctly to preserve national unity.

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Support the local language!

Southern Metropolis Daily prints a headline in Cantonese.

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The obscene battle-cry of a Ming Dynasty war hero

General Yuan Chonghuan said “Fuck his mom! Hit the hard!”

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Apple and octogenerian leaders

Outdated assumptions on Apple Mac’s entry for “octogenerian”.

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Chinese people’s English names

A new book about Chinese people’s English names.

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Too much dialect on the small screen

SARFT says TV characters should speak standard Mandarin. Even Mao and Deng?

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Zhao “left crescent” needs a new name

A man named Zhao C agreed to change his name to fit PSB computers. At issue: is ‘C’ a Pinyin letter?

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Damn the translator!

Yi Sha (伊沙) goes to Rotterdam. White Power in BQ. Politics in old dictionaries.

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So simple that any child can learn it

Yang Jiechi (杨洁篪), the Chinese foreign minister, says that Chinese is one of the world’s easiest languages.

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Theater, business and wading into the sea
by Peter Micic

The history of his new article two Chinese words that started as Qing dynasty actors slang and became buzzwords of the Chinese business elite.

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by Peter Micic